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Business Systems? Next Section: The Service >
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Keeping your business in check...
| A startup
business owner choosing their business systems for the first
time has to give detailed consideration not only to the purchase
of the hardware and software but to the installation and upkeep
of the system, as well as the training of staff. To truly harness the power of modern IT equipment a business must select, purchase and utilise the most appropriate software to meet it needs… which will almost certainly include accounts & cashflow, office productivity, creative design, collaboration and communication. Special attention should be paid to the scalability of any systems implemented - can they be built upon or easily upgraded as the business grows or perhaps changes in nature? |
Your Options...
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Hardware -
one (or more) of the following devices has fast become an
indispensible tool in the world of business - a laptop, desktop,
netbook, smart phone or iphone. When considering which
combinations of these devices you might require you will need to
decide where and when you would like to work. Will it be from
one location (the office or home) or will you be working from
clients, requiring the flexibility to work at multiple
locations? Consider that where desktops often provide the most
"powerful" and user friendly solution, a laptop will allow you
to work "on the move". Mobile phones can be configured to
receive e-mail and run software applications that will support
your productivity. Rather than being complex, these tools can
often be easily implemented and will quickly prove to be very
useful. Office Productivity - industry standard suites such as Microsoft Office, OpenOffice and Google Docs contain programs for use with word processing, spreadsheets, databases, presentations and desktop publishing. When considering which suite to use you must first decide what you will be doing with the documents that you produce; is the compatibility of different software important to you, will documents be for "internal" use or will you share these with clients, do you require the ability to pass data from one application to another (this can save a great deal of time)? If clients are in the picture then you must look at which of your systems will be compatible with theirs. As a rule of thumb Microsoft Office is compatible with the vast majority of other user's software, however both GoogleDocs and OpenOffice are free-of-charge, so the decision will be based on the specific needs of you, your clients and your business. Communication - within business the most prevalent form of this is e-mail for direct contact and a website for marketing. A modern business should not be without their own domain name (e.g. www.bennettbrooks.co.uk) to provide both their e-mail system and website. Well specified e-mail systems allow the sharing of calendars, tasks and contacts with your colleagues and clients, as well as being accessible universally - on your desktop, laptop and phone - taking collaborative working to the next level. The vast majority of businesses now have an online presence via their website, and this should not exclude new start-ups... with an ever increasing amount of new business being generated through websites and Google searches. These "start-up" sites (with the right amount of information to drive your prospective clients to contact you) can be provided quickly and at a low cost, with very few ongoing 'hosting' charges. Accounts & Cash Flow - the computer is probably the single most valuable tool for bookkeeping and accounting in the last fifteen years... there are a number of very good, easy to use, accounting software systems available at very low cost. Using one of these will allow our accountant to function in the capacity they was appointed, not as “number crunchers”, but as business advisers, consultants and strategists - allowing you to focus not on producing reports for regulatory agencies but on analysing your business to make it the most profitable that it can be. There are several major players within the Accounts software industry - Sage, Quickbooks, IRIS and Microsoft. Sage and Quickbooks' products are available in several editions, this is perhaps their greatest advantage - their scalable suites grow with your business, adding additional functionality as and when required - in the areas of VAT, stock control, sales and purchase orders, budgets, management accounting and foreign trade. This scalability provides the peace of mind that as you grow you won't need to switch systems or re-enter data, whilst at the same time minimising or waiving the initial cost of owning essential software. |
Our guide...
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Whilst most people
have a good working knowledge of PCs and software it is useful
to have seek an outside opinion and assessment of your
prospective IT systems as it is often too easy to quickly adopt
IT products for the wrong reasons such as short term cost,
familiarity, or a good sales pitch. A quick review of the administrative and
business processes undertaken on your PC can serve to identify
automations that will streamline or remove unnecessary mundane
tasks and maximize the
effectiveness of your IT investment .
bennettbrooks have the necessary balance of IT and accounting expertise to help you both get off to a good start initially and later to improve and support your system. We advise on and provide software and services covering the wide range of specific business demands, tailored to work within the growth and cost constraints that you have, and based on our extensive experience of similar businesses in your situation. As Sage, Quickbooks and Microsoft Partners - we are able provide not only the very best of advice but also general and accounting software at significant savings. This coupled with our low cost business support services and cost-efficient implementations make us an idea partner for all your business needs. |
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To arrange your free initial consultation click HERE or call us on 0845 330 3200. |